Liquid-elevating pump



Feb. 31, 1930. c. H. BRASELTON ET AL 1,746,693

LI QUID ELEVAT ING PUMP Original Filed Jul;; 15. 1922 A TTORNEYS.

Patented Feb. 11, 1930 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE;

CHESTER H. BRASELTON, or NEW YORK, AND FRED IB. MAcLAREN, or MALIBA, NEW

YORK; SAID MAOLAREN'ASSIGNOR 'ro sen) BRABELTON LIQuIn-nLnvAr NG rum?Application filed July 15, 1922, Serial This inv ention relates tomechanism for elevating a liquid from a lower level to a receptacle at ahigher level, and has particular utility when applied to vehicles suchas automobiles, utilizing liquid fuel.

For automobiles it is customary to provide a main tank or reservoir forfuel in the rear end of the frame and utilize some form of pumpingmechanism for lifting the fuel to a secondary tank above the 'carbureterfrom which the liquid feeds by gravity down to the carburetor and thenceto the engine.

. In the co-pending application, Serial No. 533,493, inventors ChesterH. Braselton and Fred B. MacLaren, there is disclosed a form of pumpingmechanism for lifting theliquid fuel from the main tank, which is basedin principle upon the inertia of the movable element positioned withinthe secondary tank, a pumping elfect being obtained by the movement of aweighted plunger in relation to the fixed support of the tank induced bythe vibration of the engine, or by the movement of the automobile over arough road bed, thus imparting an up and down movement to the weightedplunger andcausing the movement of liquid from the main tank to theelevated or secondary reservoir. In thepresent invention there aredisclosed variousimproved de tails designed to increase the efliciencyand precision of operation of the pumping mechanism. v

Among the objectsof the invention, therefore, is the utilization ofmeans in connection with a weighted plunger of the pump, which tends torestrain oncompletely stop the pumping effort when the amount of liquidin the secondary tank has reached a predetermined maximum-value. Anotherobjectis the provision of a retarding or checking device in connectionwith, the pum which is normally ineffective during the or inarypumpingoperation and which is made effective only by the inflow of theliquid from the lower tank invention to stop-the inflow of liquid to thesecondary tank by means not involving the use of valves, the inhibitionof pumping ac-. tion being dependent upon float members rigidly securedto the weighted member and or reservoir. It is further the object of theNo. 575,293. Renewed Jul 18, 1928.

upon a frictional device fixed to the plunger to cooperatively havemovement with a similar friction member 'fixed in the cylinder of thepump, this frictional action being normally ineffective but the membershaving contact when the supply of liquid has arrived'at its maximumvalue.

Further objects involving details of construction and the methods ofmanufacture will become apparent from an inspection of the drawings andthe accompanying description of a form of the mechanism and secondarytank to which in an illustrative manner has been applied the variousimprovements above referred'to. I

In the accompanying drawing,

Figure I is a diagrammatic showing of an automobile chassis showing therelative positiog of the pumping element and reservoirs, an

Figure II is a detailed cross sectional elevation of the combinedpumping and liquid receiving unit.

Referring to Figure I of the drawing, there main tank v and thesecondary tank 13" and from this latter tank the fuel is adapted to feedby gravity through a pipe 15 to the carbureter 16, whence it isdistributed to the va rious. cylinders of the engine 17 in the usualway. The automobile is provided with the usual springs which tendtoextend in a measure the frequency and amplitudev in move' ment of thecar body as the automobile passes over-a road. The secondary tank 13 hasan outer cylin-J drical shell orcasing. 14; at the base of which iswelded or soldered a base cap 15 aprt ured;

at its center to reE-eive the end of the pump cylinder 16 which extendsoutside of the tank and below the base thereof.

The base 17 of the/pump cylinder 16' is closed by means of an externalplug 18 sealed to the interior of the cylinder at its end, and

an interior plug 19 screw-threaded within the outer plug 18. The plug 19forms a connection between the inlet pipe 14 and the inlet valve formedby the exterior plug 18, there being a passage-way 21 extending throughthe inner plug 19 to a chamber formed by the upper end of the plug 19and an annular extension 22 formed integral with the exterior plug 18,but possessing a smaller diameter than that of the plug itself. Theupper side of the annular valve extension 22 is closed by a flat plate26, there being, however, an aperture 23 at the top thereof, throughwhich liquid from the inlet pipe may escape into the pump chamber 24.Included within the annular chamber 22 is a spherical valve 25, which isadapted to close the entry channel 21 in the inner plug 19 by virtue ofgravity, its movement being. limited in an upward direction, when thesuction is such as to lift the valve, by the top late 26 forming theclosure of the annular va ve chamber 23. It is to be noted that theaperture 24 is positioned off center of the plate 26, so that when thevalve 25 is lifted, escape of liquid through the aperture 24 is notprevented.

The pump cylinder 16 is apertured adjacent its-top as at 27 to permitaccess to the interior of the casing 13 from a-conduit 28 formed withinthe body of the pump plunger or iston 29. This conduit 28 is enlarged atits ase to form a valve chamber 30 in which a spherical valve 31 isadapted to have movement. The valve 31 is limited in-its upward movementby a shoulder 32 formed through the enlargement 30 above referred to andin its downward movement by the valve plate 33 apertured at its centeras at 34 to form a connection between the pumping chamber 24 and valvechamber 30. Normally, the valve 31 rests over the aperture 34 so thatmovement of liquid down is prevented, while, on the other hand, movementupwardly from the pump chamber of liquid is made ossible, the provisionof the shoulder 32 ma ing impossible a complete stoppage of liquid in anupper direction.

The portion of the plunger 29 adjacent the valular opening 27 has adiameter less than the normal diameter of the cylinder 16 so that thereis a space formed in between the wall of the plunger and the cylinder atthis point. The object of this arrangement is to permit liquid to comeinto the cylinder and pass in between the cylinder and piston wall,thereby forming a liquid seal tending'to increase the efliciency of thepumping action. Another advantage of this constricted diameter residesin the fact that should the piston rotate relative to the cylinder, theeffect as to the cross section of outlet is not apparent, in-' 'asmuchas the liquid passes completely around the piston at this point anddischarges through the port, 27.

Adjacent the top of the cylinder 16' is formed an opening 40, adapted toreceive an element 41 which has high frictional effect relative to othermaterials, particularly to materials of similar composition. Thismaterial mightbe cork, for example, or some other analogous material andis adapted to cooperatively engage under certain conditions a similarfriction element 42 inserted in a recap 45 of the casing and forming aguide and holding means for the reciprocating plunger. The diameter ofthis guide is somewhat greater than that of the plunger, so that thereis some lateral movement possible in the plunger element. The top cap 45does not rest directly upon the top of the casing 13, but is secured toa ring 46 which surrounds the upper part of the casing and is soldered vor welded to the exterior thereof. This ring is bent inwardly anddownwardly forming an annular rib 47 and then inwardly and downwardlyupon an inner supporting rib 48; The attachment between the cap 45 andthe ring 46 is made by means of machine screws 49 which pass through thering 46 inwardly of the rib 47 so that the tightening of the screwscauses a rigid and fluid tight joint between the cap and ring. In orderto increase the tightness of this joint, the outer extremity of the cap45 is bent downwardly, so that it curves around the rib 47, therebyproviding additional contacting area between the two members.

The center of the cap 45 is apertured to receive the stem 50 of a handoperated member attached at its lower end to the top of the pis ton 29and having at its upper end a knurled cap 50" by means of which theplunger may be manipulated to cause reciprocation in the pump chamberand bring'liquid into the casing. This hand-operated pumping mechanismis entirely secondary and is adapted to be used only when the primarypumping means is for any reason inoperative.

The primary pumping means comprises a weighted element 51 which restsupon a collar 52 surrounding the plunger above the top of the cylinder16, and is formed of metal or any other material having a suflicientlyhigh density to permit relative movement of the plunger and cylinder byreason of inertia.

To one side of the weighted element 51, there is formed a hole extendingaxially arallel to the plunger element and at the ase case of any ticalaxis. The object" of the cork so disposed on the weighted element 51 is,in case the amount of liquid should reach a level in the tank at whichthe inflow should cease, to shift the top of the plunger over'to oneside against the ring 44, so that the frictional elements 41 and 42 arebrought into contact and thereby retard the reciprocating movement oftheplunger to such an extent that the inflow of liquid to the tankpractically ceases.

The base of the weighted element 51 is cut away around its lower outercircumference to form a seat for the upper end of a' spring 54, the baseof the same resting upon the lower cap 15 of the casing. The springsupports the weighted element 51 and its attached plunger in a balancedposition, sothat in the sudden jar being imparted to the casing, becauseof the inertia of the weighted element, there is brought about arelative movementof the plunger and cylinder, resulting in a pumpingaction within the cylinder and an inflow of liquid into' the casing.

The outlet pipe 15 has entr into the casing 13 through a tubular. busing 55 in the base of the casing and in the cap-15. The cap 15 is alsoapertured to one side and a bushing 56 is attached thereto-internallythreaded to receive a plug 57 through which opening it is possible todrain and clean out the tank.

In the operation of a pumping mechanism above described, and assumingthat the tank is empty, the initial operation would be to causereciprocation of the pump plunger 29 by manipulation of the cap 50', theup and down movement of the plunger causing liquid 'to flow from themain tank 11 into the pump chamber and thence out-into thesecondary tankarea. The engine may then be started and as soon as the vehicle is inmotion, the vibration and up and down movement imparted to the casing13, by virtue of the movement of the vehicle over the road bed, causesan, up and down movement of the plunger element 29, this movement beingfacilitated by reason of the inertia of this plunger element inconnection with the weighted element 51. While a greater impetus isgiven to the plunger throughthe movement of the car or vehicle over theroad I bed, there is also some vibration imparted to the pump merely bythe action of the engine itself when the vehicle is motionless. Thedegree of movement depends, of

course, upon the characteristics of the spring 54, as well as upon theinertia of the piston including theweighted mass51, but the design ofthe piston is suchas tocause elevation of the liquid from the main tankunder all operative conditions of the automobile such as in hillclimbing, for example, orvover extremely smooth or rough roads. In thelatter circumstance, of course, it is essential that means he providedto prevent an overflow when the movement of the plunger is extensive, assuch wouldoccur when traveling over rough and uneven roads. Thissituation is provided for in the friction elements 41 and 42 abovereferred-to, which become effective only when the liquid in the tank hasarrived at a level sufficiently high to cause a tilting of the plungerelement, and thereby cause the inter-engagement of the friction members.It is, of course, apparentthat the movement of the weighted plunger isvariable, depending upon the'road bed, vibration of the engine and othersources of vibration so that the average movement of the plunger iseffective in determining the amount of liquid raised from the main tank,and the design is such as to take advantage of the various extremes ofmovement such as would come from movement'pf the vehicle upon a smoothroad and upon a rough road and provide an average inflowof liquid tothe'secondary tank suflicient to supply the engine with all the. fuelnecessary for the proper operation of the engine.

Itshould be pointed outthat the device and mechanism shown-in thedrawing and covered in the description is merely illustrative, theinvention not being limited thereto, but subject to such variations aswould come within the scope of the claims hereto appended.

What we claim is:

1. In a device ofthe class described, the combination of a casingadapted to receive a liquid; a cylinder within the casing; a plungermovable within the cylinder and forming therewith a pump chamber; inletand outlet conduits to said chamber; an inlet valve in the inlet conduitand an outlet valve in the outlet conduit; inertia-actuated means forcausing movement of the plunger; and additional means for frictionallyretarding movement of the plunger when the supply of liquid in thecasing hasreached a predetermined value, said means comprising afriction ele'ment secured to the plunger and a co-operating frictionelement secured to the cylinder, said elements having an enlargedcontact area and being normally out of contact with each other.

2. In a device of the class described, the combination of a tank; areciprocatory fluid pump within said tank adapted to supply liquidthereto; inertia-actuated means within said pump; and frictionalretarding means within the tank adapted to retard reciprocation of saidpump when the supply of liquid has reached a predetermined level, saidmeans 5 comprising interengageable co-ofpera'ting friction elementsnormally out 0 engagement with each other and an eccentricallypositioned weight secured to the inertia actuated means for biasing thereciprocating element of said pump when the supply of liquid exceeds apredetermined level.

3. In a device of the class described, the combination of a casingadapted to receive a liquid; a cylinder within the casing; a plungermovable within the cylinder and forming therewith a pump chamber; inletand outlet conduits to said chamber; an inlet valve in the inlet conduitand an outlet valve in the outlet conduit; means for causing movement ofthe plunger; and friction members adapted to retard movement of theplunger when the supply of liquid in the casmg has reached apredetermined level; one

- of said members being secured to the cylinder and the other of saidfriction members being secured to said plunger, and an eccentricallypositioned weighted element secured to the plunger moving means, saidelement having a specific density less than that of the liquid in saidcasing and adapted to bias the plunger of the pump when a liquid in thecasing exceeds a predetermined level.

4. In a device of the class described, the combination of a casingadapted to receive a liquid; a cylinder within the casing; a plungermovable within the cylinder and forming therewith a pump chamber; inletand outlet conduits to said chamber; an inlet valve in the inlet conduitand an outlet valve in the outlet conduit; means for causi movement ofthe plunger, said plunger having a normal vertical movement but adaptedto be biased to one side when the supply of liquid in the casing hasexceeded a predetermined value, and means which become operative whenthe plunger'is biased, whereby the movement of the plunger is retarded.

In testimonywhereof, we 'afiix our signatures.

CHESTER H. BRASELTON. FRED B. MACLAREN.

